Learners on the motorway.
Discussion
Having had a very near miss on the M25 today, I discovered learners are now allowed on motorways. Being a bit shocked by a passenger grappling with the steering wheel of a s
tty old Fiesta with L plates to avoid colliding with my van at 70mph, I Googled it. If you didn't know, they are now allowed but only in a dual controlled vehicle with a qualified instructor. I guess we might see a few more cases like mine, where people don't know the new law.
This learner and instructor (probably dad) clearly didn't know that traffic merging from the slip meant they should either brake, accelerate or get the fk over into the middle lane because there was nothing in it!
tty old Fiesta with L plates to avoid colliding with my van at 70mph, I Googled it. If you didn't know, they are now allowed but only in a dual controlled vehicle with a qualified instructor. I guess we might see a few more cases like mine, where people don't know the new law.This learner and instructor (probably dad) clearly didn't know that traffic merging from the slip meant they should either brake, accelerate or get the f
k over into the middle lane because there was nothing in it!Nope, I haven't gone away and tail is still in its usual place.
Learners are indeed allowed on motorways now, but only with an approved instructor in a dual controlled car. You may have failed to spot that I said it was a 'stty' old Fiesta with a guy leaning across trying to steer from the passenger seat. Probably the driver's dad. So illegal.
Then of course when did anyone on here actually stick to the Highway Code? All well and good googling it for the same of an argument on here, but it's doubtful any of you know even a third of it.
Had the guy been in a school car, it's highly probable the instructor would have asked the driver to observe merging traffic from the slip and to use the middle lane if it is clear.
I really don't see a problem with my original post. It just demonstrated the dangers of learners on a motorway without trained instructors.
Learners are indeed allowed on motorways now, but only with an approved instructor in a dual controlled car. You may have failed to spot that I said it was a 's
tty' old Fiesta with a guy leaning across trying to steer from the passenger seat. Probably the driver's dad. So illegal.Then of course when did anyone on here actually stick to the Highway Code? All well and good googling it for the same of an argument on here, but it's doubtful any of you know even a third of it.
Had the guy been in a school car, it's highly probable the instructor would have asked the driver to observe merging traffic from the slip and to use the middle lane if it is clear.
I really don't see a problem with my original post. It just demonstrated the dangers of learners on a motorway without trained instructors.
Torquey said:
Are you saying that the learner should have give way to you?
No, simply that neither the driver or instructor were aware of merging traffic and got into a fight over the steering wheel in the middle of it. Probably one of the reasons the law states dual controlled approved instructor.It really was just one of those simple situations when there was plenty of time and space for the car to move over leaving merging traffic unaffected. We've all been there ranting coz you've literally ground to a halt because the daydreamer wasn't looking or thinking. But of course you're not on here to see that are you? You are law abiding PH'ers who can quote the highway code and have never had a cross word in your many experienced years of motoring.
We'll youve all got me bang to rights. There I was, a typical angry van driver who thought dual control meant two steering wheels, looking at a clapped out old Fiesta with an L plate cello taped beside the rust and thinking it can't be a legitimate driving school/teacher. fk knows how I've managed to get through life so successfully!
k knows how I've managed to get through life so successfully!Well I know when I'm beat! 
But I seriously didn't know at the time that the law had just changed and that learners were allowed. All I was saying in my opening post was that learners and their non professional instructors too might not know what the new law says. In this instance the instructor either didn't know he should be qualified and with dual controls or didn't care as he was probably just Joe Public teaching his son to drive.
And as for the merging part, of course I know who has right of way, but we also know what keeps traffic moving and safely. I bet there's no one on PH who has ever stopped at the end of a motorway slip to give way when there's traffic. And I doubt even more that if you came down the same slip to an empty motorway, with limited vision from a van, and the one car that was there made you stamp on your brakes that you wouldn't get the hump with them!
But I seriously didn't know at the time that the law had just changed and that learners were allowed. All I was saying in my opening post was that learners and their non professional instructors too might not know what the new law says. In this instance the instructor either didn't know he should be qualified and with dual controls or didn't care as he was probably just Joe Public teaching his son to drive.And as for the merging part, of course I know who has right of way, but we also know what keeps traffic moving and safely. I bet there's no one on PH who has ever stopped at the end of a motorway slip to give way when there's traffic. And I doubt even more that if you came down the same slip to an empty motorway, with limited vision from a van, and the one car that was there made you stamp on your brakes that you wouldn't get the hump with them!
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